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Sept. 18: Latest Updates on Opposition Protests in Iran

By Robert Mackey September 18, 2009 6:39 amSeptember 18, 2009 6:39 am

To supplement coverage of new opposition protests on Friday in Iran by our Times colleagues, The Lede is tracking reports of the events online. Readers who are in Iran or in touch with people there are encouraged to use the comments thread below to share or point us to first-hand accounts of the demonstrations in the form of text, video or photographs posted on the Web.

The Lede is signing off for today but will continue to follow events in Iran in the days ahead. Thanks for all of your comments and tips.

Update | 5:02 p.m. Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks on Friday, in which he called the Holocaust “an unprovable and mythical claim.” According to a report from Reuters, Mr. Steinmeier said:

Today’s statements by the Iranian President are unacceptable. With his intolerable tirades he is a disgrace to his country. This sheer anti-Semitism demands our collective condemnation. We will continue to confront it decisively in the future.

Reuters noted: “Denying the Holocaust — carried out by Nazi Germany in World War Two — is a crime in Germany, punishable by up to five years in prison.”

Update | 4:35 p.m. Here are images of the three very different experiences of Quds Day in Tehran Iran’s three opposition leaders — Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mohammad Khatami — had on Friday:

Update | 4:21 p.m. This report from Lindsey Hilsum of Britain’s Channel 4 News on the day’s competing demonstrations includes footage of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying the June 12 presidential election was “one hundred per cent free” and of the mother of Sohrab Aarabi, a young protester who was killed at the first huge protest after the election, marching today with the opposition:Channel 4 News also posted this raw video, from Iranian state television, of what the authorities say was the officially-sanctioned, anti-Israel demonstration on Friday in Tehran:While it is impossible to get a reliable estimate of the real size of the crowds on Iran’s streets today — or of what percentage were opposition supporters — some Iranian bloggers claimed on Friday that state television had used aerial shots of large crowds from last year in their coverage of today’s rally.

Confirmed: opposition leader Mousavi was assaulted at Quds Day rally, pushed over and pummeled with insults

Britain’s Channel 4 News posted this brief video clip from Iran’s state-supported English-language satellite channel Press TV, showing Mr. Moussavi at the Quds Day rally — in a report that tries to downplay the size of the opposition presence on the streets and suggests that Mr. Moussavi is unpopular:

These video images, and photographs posted on the Web by Mehr news agency, appear to show that Mr. Moussavi, like former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was allowed to appear in a part of Tehran where government supporters were demonstrating against Israel, not in the nearby streets reportedly filled with opposition protesters.

In this report Press TV, like other official media outlets in Iran, made no mention of the dozens of video clips posted online on Friday, apparently showing large crowds of opposition supporters on the streets of Tehran.

Update | 3:40 p.m. Here is video uploaded to YouTube today that the Iranian-American Web site Tehran Bureau says was shot on Friday, apparently by someone standing right at the point where opposition protesters and riot police meet:

Update | 3:11 p.m. An update on something we discussed earlier today. This morning a reader helpfully pointed out that this photograph of former President Mohammad Khatami having just had his turban knocked off in a scuffle, which was posted on some blogs and CNN’s iReport today, was actually shot in June, not today, when reports said that Mr. Khatami was assaulted and again had his turban knocked off.

The Associated Press has obtained photographs shot today of the assault on Mr. Khatami when rival groups of demonstrators met in Tehran. Here is one of the photographs:

Associated Press PhotoReformist leader and former President Mohammad Khatami during a confrontation with government supporters at a rally in Tehran on Friday.

Update | 2:48 p.m. It seems that the photograph Iranian bloggers pointed to earlier today, apparently showing opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi attending the Quds Day rally in Tehran, was indeed genuine. The image has now been published by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency on its English-language Web site.

Update | 1:23 p.m. My colleague Jeff Zeleny reports from Washington that the American government has responded to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks earlier today on the Holocaust:

The White House responded sharply to the remarks about the Holocaust from the Iranian leader. The president’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said that by denying that the Holocaust took place was “ignorant, hateful and would isolate Iran further from the world.”

The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Susan E. Rice, said Friday that President Obama would not meet with Mr. Ahmadinejad next week when world leaders meet in New York City for the U.N. General Assembly meeting. “I don’t think there is much likelihood that there will be an interaction,” Ms. Rice said. “There is no obvious venue where that would occur.”

Update | 12:21 p.m. Iranian blogger Omid Habibinia writes on Twitter from Switzerland: “SMS network is disabled in Tehran, Internet Speed decreased near 0.” If this is a government effort to block citizen journalism, it would seems to be bolting the stable door a bit late: dozens of videos and photographs of today’s protests by opposition supporters have already been uploaded to the Web.

The Iranian blogger and opposition supporter Mojtaba Samienejad insists on Twitter that there were a million, not just tens of thousands, of protesters on the streets on Friday. From outside the country it is very difficult to gauge, but the video we’ve seen clearly contradicts the reports from Iran’s state media outlets which said that there were hundreds of thousands or millions of people demonstrating across Iran exclusively against Israel. Look closely at some of the video embedded below and you can see what look like officially printed signs saying “Down With Israel” in which the word Israel was crossed out and replaced with Russia — a country seen as a strong supporter of the current government.

Update | 11:49 a.m. Thanks to the reader who submitted this comment filled with translations and analysis of the chants in several of the videos embedded below. We are adding the annotation to the updates below, but here are some of the reader’s most interesting observations:

6:56 a.m. upload: crowd is chanting: “Long live Montazeri! Long live Sanei!” [both references to the opposition clerics in Qom]

7:16 a.m.: The government person with the loud speaker alternatively says, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” both popular chants in the government-sponsored “Palestine Day.” However, the the crowd, instead of repeating this, repeatedly chants “Death to Russia” because of Russia’s ongoing support of the IRI. By the end of the video the man in the loudspeaker is quiet.

9:07 a.m. 1st upload: “Either Iran, or in Gaza, enough with the killing of people.”

9:29 a.m. Interesting scene. Opposition protesters have surrounded the two government people with the loudspeakers and cry: “Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, I sacrifice my life for Iran!” Then, “Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein!” then, “Death to Russia!” by the crowd. As the man in the loudspeaker is completely prevented from giving out the scripted slogans, he resorts to “God is Great” from the loudspeaker.

Supporters of the Green Movement gathered at 7 Tir square (a major intersection) and began moving toward Tehran University, where the Friday prayers and Ahmadinejad’s speech were to be held. Mehdi Karroubi joined the demonstrators and walked with them all the way to the vicinity of Tehran University.

To prevent the Green Movement’s supporters from penetrating Tehran University, public buses had been used to block all the streets around the campus. Security forces, the Basij militia, and plainclothes agents used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the demonstrators.

Former president Mohammad Khatami joined the demonstrators close to Palestine square, a short distance from the campus of the University of Tehran. He was then attacked by a mob led by Abolfazl Shariatmadari, son of Hossein Shariatmadari, the hard-line managing editor of Kayhan, the mouthpiece of the hardliners and security forces. Khatami was rescued by the people, and sustained minor injuries. He was then taken away.

All of 7 Tir square, Karim Khan Zand and Keshavarz boulevards, and Hejab Street were filled with supporters of the Green Movement. A large crowd also gathered in Azadi Square, and walked toward Enghelan Square, a short distance from the campus of Tehran University.

Update | 11:30 a.m. A reader who wishes to remain anonymous writes with some background on a new chant heard today in video apparently shot on the streets of Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz on Friday:

Some background on the new chant “Not for Gaza, not for Lebanon, my life for Iran!” It was first heard a few nights ago at a demonstration in the city of Qom after a speech by the reformist cleric Grand Ayatollah Sa’anei. A video of the clip and the chants circulated on YouTube, and after hearing it, was promoted for today by dissidents like Mohsen Sazegara and on Twitter. That it spread to all over the country so quickly is somewhat remarkable.

The reason it has special resonance today: first, the demonstrators are conveying that the regime will no longer be able to hide its shortcomings by focusing people’s attention on the Arab/Israeli conflict (until you go to Iran, you cannot comprehend how extensive this effort is). Second, they’re reaffirming their nationalism in response to charges that they are somehow traitors for not supporting Ahmadi.

Update | 11:05 a.m. The semiofficial Mehr news agency published photographs, including this one, of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the founding fathers of the Islamic Republic, taking part in today’s rally, apparently surrounded by supporters of the government, not the opposition:

As my colleague Robert Worth reported this week, Mr. Rafsanjani, a former president and senior cleric who was often seen at the right hand of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the early days of the Islamic revolution, had delivered the Friday Prayer sermon on Quds Day for almost 25 years, until he was barred from doing so this week.

Mr. Rafsanjani, who lost the 2005 presidential election to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, strongly supported the campaign of Mir Hussein Moussavi this year and has spoken out, cautiously, against the crackdown on dissent in recent months.

Update | 10:49 a.m. Thanks to a reader for pointing out that at least one image we had previously posted, of former President Mohammad Khatami losing his turban while being attacked, was not shot today. Iranian journalist Omid Memarian posted this image of a turbanless Mr. Khatami on his blog in the immediate aftermath of the June 12 election — so clearly the person who uploaded it to iReport today was misinformed or attempting to mislead us.

This continues to be a problem for news organizations forced to rely on anonymous bloggers who are frequently also partisan activists for information from countries that close their doors to independent reporters. We appreciate the crowd-sourcing help from readers very much.

One of the two photographs uploaded to iReport that we originally embedded here does appear to have been shot today though. It has been moved across the wires by The Associated Press and looks like it was shot at a different location than the old photograph. We have posted that image here.

Update | 10:42 a.m. This video, uploaded on Friday to YouTube by the Iranian blogger Mehdi Saharkhiz, who says it was shot in Shiraz today, shows protesters chanting exactly the same slogan — “Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, I give my life to Iran!” — heard in other video clips we embedded earlier, which were apparently shot in Isfahan and Tehran:

Update | 10:33 a.m. The main story on the Web site of Press TV, Iran’s state-supported English-language broadcaster — which was, until recently, run by an American man — makes no mention of opposition supporters among the “millions of Iranians” it reports filled “streets across the country to mark the annual Quds Day march in solidarity with Palestinians.”

Update | 10:25 a.m. The Farsi-language Web site Gooya News, which has provided reliable information on demonstrations in Iran in the past, has published an illustrated account of opposition protests and a clash with the security forces in Tehran on Friday. Here is one of the images:

Update | 10:04 a.m. On Thursday, Ann Curry of NBC News interviewed Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for nearly an hour in Tehran and asked him about the disputed June 12 election opposition supporters say was rigged and about Iran’s nuclear program. Here is her report from Tehran on Thursday night:

Update | 9:57 a.m. A report on the English-language Web site of the Iranian news agency Mehr says the crowds on Tehan’s streets today were huge, but makes no mention at all of anti-government protesters, claiming: “hundreds of thousands of citizens converged on the Revolution Square and surrounding streets to show their solidarity with Palestinians who have been under Israeli occupation for more than six decades.” Those would be the same streets apparently filled with green-clad opposition supporters in the video embedded in our previous update.

Update | 9:51 a.m. The Iranian blogger Omid Habibinia, writing from Switzerland, says that this video, uploaded to YouTube today, shows a demonstration near Tehran’s Enghelab (or Revolution) Square at about 12:30 local time on Friday:

This video, uploaded recently to YouTube by Mojtaba Samienejad, an Iranian blogger still working from inside the country, is a reminder of the central role of images shot on mobile phones, even in close proximity to members of the security forces:

Update | 9:29 a.m. This video, uploaded to YouTube on Friday, appears to show supporters of Iran’s government carrying signs reading “Down With U.S.A.” surrounded and outnumbered by protesters on Tehran’s streets:

A reader comments:

Interesting scene. Opposition protesters have surrounded the two government people with the loudspeakers and cry: “Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, I sacrifice my life for Iran!” Then, “Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein!” then, “Death to Russia!” by the crowd. As the man in the loudspeaker is completely prevented from giving out the scripted slogans, he resorts to “God is Great” from the loudspeaker.

The scene in the background — with a Palestinian flag, people holding the same signs seen in other images of today’s rally reading “Down With U.S.A.” and what looks to be the same sort of weather — suggest that the photograph was shot during a Quds Day rally, so if it is not a fake, or shot during a previous year’s rally, it seems likely that it was shot today.

Also, bearing in mind that Mr. Moussavi had been retired from politics for many years before returning to run in this year’s presidential election, the man pointing at him in the photograph suggests that the image is unlikely to have been taken at a previous year’s rally.

Update | 9:07 a.m. Here are two videos, apparently showing opposition supporters chanting and singing on Tehran’s streets on Friday, uploaded to YouTube within the last hour by Mojtaba Samienejad, an Iranian blogger still working from inside the country:

A reader tells us that, in the first video, the crowd chants: “In Iran or in Gaza, enough with the killing of people.”

Update | 8:42 a.m. The Guardian points out that the Iranian Web site Parleman News has published several photographs of Mohammad Khatami, the reformist who was Iran’s president before Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, among the crowds of opposition supporters in Tehran on Friday. There are also images there that appear to show the scuffle with supporters of the regime during which Reuters reported that Mr. Khatami’s turban was knocked to the ground and his robe was ripped.

Parlemannews.irA photograph an Iranian Web site says was taken on Friday in Tehran, showing former President Mohammad Khatami with opposition protesters.

Parlemannews.irMr. Khatami smiling broadly in the crowd.

Parlemannews.irSupporters of Iran’s current government on the streets of Tehran on Friday.

Update | 8:25 a.m. According to the Iranian journalist Sepideh Farkhondeh, this video, uploaded on Friday to YouTube, shows a crowd in Tehran cheering for opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, who was a candidate in the June 12 election and has publicly denounced the treatment of detained opposition supporters, saying that they were raped and tortured in prison. The crowd then boos Mr. Ahmadinejad and chants “Marg bar Diktator!” — “Death to the Dictator!”

Ms. Farkhondeh adds that in this video, apparently shot in Tehran on Friday, the crowd chants “Your Tanks and Your Militia Don’t Work Any More!” and then echoes the chant heard in Isfahan: “Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, I give my life to Iran!”

Update | 8:22 a.m. According to a report from Reuters, witnesses and an Iranian news agency say that all three of the opposition’s main leaders attended Friday’s demonstrations but were attacked and forced to leave:

Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami took part in the rally, but was attacked by hardliners and had to leave after his robe was ripped and his turban fell to the ground, an ally of Khatami who accompanied him told Reuters.

The state news agency IRNA said Mousavi and reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi, both defeated candidates in the disputed poll in June, had also been forced to leave the rallies after being attacked by “angry people.”

Update | 8:01 a.m. Among the dozens of apparently new videos uploaded to YouTube today by opposition supporters, there are several that are said to have been shot outside Tehran — including video apparently filmed in the cities of Isfahan and Shiraz on Friday.

Sepideh Farkhondeh, an Iranian journalist monitoring events from France, tells The Lede that this video shows opposition supporters in Isfahan chanting, on a day officially devoted to support for the Palestinians, “Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, I give my life to Iran!” and, “Torture and confessions don’t work anymore!”

This video is said to show opposition supporters in the streets of Shiraz today:

A reader writes to say that the crowd here is chanting: “Death to China!”

Update | 7:52 a.m. An opposition supporter writing on Twitter under the name IranAnon, gives brief accounts of today’s rally in Tehran. According to the blogger, SMS service was blocked in the areas of central Tehran where opposition supporters gathered and the crowds “even chanted in support of Abtahi,” a reformist leader who was arrested and made statements denouncing the opposition that appeared to have been coerced. According to IranAnon, these chants shows recently showed that opposition supporters “r aware of his fake confessions.”

Update | 7:37 a.m. Reuters reports that security forces in Tehran clashed with opposition supporters on Friday, according to witnesses who spoke to the news agency:

Witnesses said more clashes erupted between police and Mousavi’s supporters during protests north of Tehran and that police fired teargas to disperse protesters. A witness said he saw some people being detained during the clashes in north Tehran.

Residents said many drivers, wearing green wristbands, held out their hands in V signs as they drove in the city, especially on freeways.

Update | 7:22 a.m. These videos were uploaded to YouTube on Friday by the Iranian blogger Mehdi Saharkhiz, who says that they show protesters chanting in favor of opposition leaders Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi:

A reader points out that the crowd in the second video chants, in turn, the names of three reformist leaders: “Moussavi! Karroubi! Khatami!”

Mr. Saharkhiz, the son of a prominent reformist detained during the post-election protests, is working from outside Iran. He also points to this video, apparently showing some of the chants against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that were reportedly audible in the background earlier today as state television interviewed Mr. Ahmadinejad live in Tehran:

If any readers can help us to determine which parts of Tehran any of these videos were filmed in — or tell us if any of the footage might have been uploaded to YouTube on a previous date — we would appreciate hearing from you in the comments thread below. Although you are now asked to register with the Times Web site to post a comment, we will not share or make public any information you submit.

Update | 7:16 a.m. Iranian opposition bloggers are pointing to this video, which they say was shot today in Tehran, of a large crowd chanting “Marg Bar Russiye!” (“Death to Russia!”), to protest the Russian government’s quick acceptance of the official results of the June 12 presidential election in Iran:

A reader comments:

The government person with the loud speaker alternatively says “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” both popular chants in the government-sponsored “Palestine Day.” However, the the crowd, instead of repeating this, repeatedly chants “Death to Russia” because of Russia’s ongoing support of the IRI. By the end of the video the man in the loudspeaker is quiet.

A reader tells us that the crowd in this video is chanting in support of two clerics who have supported the opposition: “Long live Montazeri! Long live Sanei!”

As with all evidence of protests in Iran, we stress that restrictions on first-hand reporting by the Iranian government make it impossible for The New York Times to verify the authenticity of this footage. However this video was pointed to on Twitter by the Iranian blogger Mojtaba Samienejad, still working from inside the country, who has provided accurate information in the past.

Update | 6:52 a.m. Matt Weaver of The Guardian notes on the British newspaper’s live blog that their former Iran correspondent Robert Tait, monitoring events from Istanbul, reports evidence that opposition supporters can be clearly heard on Iranian state television coverage of the anti-Israel rally:

Ahmadinejad was giving a live interview on IRIB’s Channel Two from the scene of Quds Day. As he spoke, viewers could clearly the chants of “Ahmadi, Ahmadi, resign, resign” — this all over live TV.

Apparently Ahmadinejad was aware of the chants and their effect on the interview. He is said to have become flustered and quickly wrapped up the interview.

Update | 6:43 a.m. As Alan Cowell reports for The Times, despite reports of thousands of opposition supporters taking to the streets to call his election on June 12 a sham, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the occasion of Quds (Jerusalem) Day in Iran to call the Holocaust a myth.

In an address at Tehran University carried live on Iranian state radio, Reuters reported that Mr. Ahmadinejad, speaking of the Holocaust, said: “The pretext for the creation of the Zionist regime is false.” He added: “It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim.” He also sought to focus Iranians anger on Israel, and away from his own government, saying: “Confronting the Zionist regime is a national and religious duty.”

Update | 6:25 a.m. According to an Associated Press report from Iran, a leading reformist, former President Mohammad Khatami, was attacked on Friday while attending the annual Palestinian solidarity rally in Tehran with opposition supporters:

A group of Iranian hard-liners have attacked a reformist former president while he was marching with opposition supporters at an anti-government rally in Tehran. A reformist Web site cites witnesses as saying the attackers pushed ex-President Mohammad Khatami to the ground. It says opposition activists rescued him and quickly repelled the assailants.

Khatami has sided with the opposition in the post-election crisis that has gripped Iran. Another reformist Webs site says his turban was disheveled and he was forced to leave the march.

The reports came as tens of thousands of Iranians joined government-sponsored marches Friday marking an annual pro-Palestinian commemoration.

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Six young Iranians were arrested and forced to repent on state television Tuesday for the grievous offense of proclaiming themselves to be “Happy in Tehran,” in a homemade music video they posted on YouTube.Read more…